The Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project has so far generated more controversy than power. As we noted earlier, the county board of commissioners has challenged Gov. Gregoire's approval of the project. Following an EFSEC recommendation, the governor used her power of preemption, overruling the objections of local officials. As I wrote earlier, these are always difficult decisions for state officials, even when, as in this case, the preemption is clearly justified.
From Chris Mulick's Olympia Dispatch blog, we learn that Steve Wright, the head of Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) thinks the governor did the right thing.
So what did he think of Gregoire's decision?
"I think we're going to have to make some tough choices and those strike me the kind of decisions we're going to have to make," he said.
Agreed.
